In this presentation I discuss the ways in which restaurateurs in Yucatán and Seville are deploying the notion of innovation. The first one, has been promoted as a synecdoche for all Mexican Food, disregarding the Caribbean rather than Mexican influences in Yucatecan food. The second, an invention by US nutritionists, has been from its inception a translocal construct involving Seville among other Mediterranean cities. In this talk I describe the strategies of innovation and retro-innovation deployed by chefs and restaurant owners seeking to attract and maintain their clientele.